My survival of the sinking of the Titanic

My name is Lewis Hayes and 20 years ago I survived the sinking of the Titanic. This is my story.

So there I was in the year 1912 in my room thinking about how great it would be to get tickets to be aboard the Titanic. I just started to daydream when I heard my Mother call for me. I hurried down stairs and I saw my Mother holding three tickets. I immediately felt the excitement and the curiosity build up inside me. Were those the tickets to the Titanic? Or just some ordinary tickets to some kind of carnival? Why were there only three? My excitement started to overwhelm me when I saw the White Star Line symbol on them. White Star line was the company that built the Titanic.  When I asked if they were the tickets to go on the Titanic, my Mother said,” find out yourself.” So I took the tickets and saw that they were indeed tickets to go on the Titanic. I was really excited something bothered me, why were there only three tickets? I asked my Mother that question and she said it was because my Father had work to do and that he would meet us at New York. I was sad because I really wanted Father to go with us. But it was fine, I would not let that small detail ruin my trip on the Titanic. And I could see why we could only buy three. It was because they were first class tickets! First class tickets cost over 4000 dollars(eye 25).That cost more money than our house. I was so excited that I could not sleep that night.

The day to board the Titanic was here. We were taking our belongings of the car when I had my first glance at the Titanic. It was so big! I could not believe what was in front of me! It was probably the largest moving object in the world! My little brother Joseph was staring at it in a trance. We went inside, and I swore that it was the most beautiful thing ever! I asked my Mother if I could go exploring. She said I could, but I had to bring Joseph with me. We saw Turkish baths, elegant restaurants, a swimming pool. And even a ballroom!(dub 6). While we were exploring the lower decks I saw that famous millionaire, John Jacob Astor with his wife walking their dog Kitty! I knew the dog's name was Kitty because I had read about it in the newspaper(dub 10). W hen I was talking with the ship's captain, E.J.Smith, he told me that the Titanic was 882 feet long, about 22 buses long(dub 4)! I asked Captain Smith why there were only 16 lifeboats (rdb 20). He told me that the Titanic would never sink and that we would never need them anyways. I went back to our room along the way Joseph asked me if I thought what Captain Smith had said was true. I said it was going to be fine, but deep inside my heart I knew something was going to happen.

For the next three or four days we explored, dined, swam and talked, I Also met a third class boy named Colin Barry. He was an Irish boy whose parents wanted to move to America to start a new beginning because they were in lots of debts. I became friends with Colin because we have lots of things in common ,like we both love to play soccer, make jokes and explore.He also told me that more than half of the passengers aboard the Titanic were in third class(eye 28). That night I had a horrible nightmare. In my dream, the Titanic was sinking there were hundreds of dead body and thousands of screams for help. I knew this was just a nightmare, but I had no idea of what was ahead of me.

It was Joseph's 8th birthday in the 13th, and we celebrated, so I was happy. Our parents let us stay up late. That night while I was on the deck playing with Joseph, I overheard the Captain saying that there were icebergs in the area but he didn’t want to waste time dodging them (car 14). That made me a little scared, and something he said after that really startled me. He said to go faster and faster. I feared that we would be going too fast to stop if we encountered an iceberg(rj 15). That night I had that same  nightmare again but this time it was even worse and more frightening.

The next day I decided to go see Mr.Fleet, the watchman. When we were finished talking, I saw a dark object looming in the distance. I told Mr.Fleet, but he said it was just an iceberg. He did ring the bell three times just in case. Mr.Fleet yelled out,“iceberg ahead!” The ship did not go slower though . Instead it seemed like the great ship was going faster and faster. Until we were right by the iceberg. Then I heard a scraping noise, and that is when the real terror started happening.

It was about 12:30at that time(rdb 16)and I felt a terrible jolt. The Captain told me that we were sinking and that I had to warn people. I ran to our room and I told my Mother and Joseph we were in such a hurry that they forgot their life belts I gave Joseph mine so he could be safe and told them to get on one of the lifeboats. Then I ran to go tell other people. Most of them forgot their life belts(dub 17). Some of them who did not feel any impact didn’t even know what was going in(dub 18). I went up to the deck and found many people panicking I saw many couples that did not want to get on a lifeboat(eye 20). I was separated from my brother and Mother. While i was looking for them I heard many babies crying, children shouting for fathers, pastors leading prayers and couples crying. I couldn’t find them so I went on a lifeboat but went of when I saw a child and her mother waiting for a spot. I finally went aboard lifeboat 1. We were dropped into the cold and icy sea behind all the other lifeboats. At about 2 in the morning I heard the ship’s orchestra stop playing(rdb 18). Then I saw something I would never forget, the ship’s propellers went high in the air(eye 39) then split in two it what I saw was horrifying. We sailed for what seemed like days until a ship came. It was about 4 a.m. when we first saw that ship. The people on our lifeboat shouted and made as much noise as possible and the Ship came over and I could see the name of that ship, it was the ‘Carpathia”(rdb 26). I got on the ship and looked for my Mother and brother, after a while I found them and embraced them in a hug. We sailed calmly to New York where I saw my Father he said that he was very worried about me.

I lived the life peacefully from then on but had grief when I was told that Colin never made it. I visited the memorial everyday from then on. I have cared for everyone I met, not wanting them to go through the same thing I did. People have lots of beliefs about why it sank. but the only reason I have to say is that all of those reasons  might be true but someday I believe, that there will be a correct reason why the Titanic sank.

• Driscoll, Laura. Titanic: The Story Lives On!(New York,NY:Penguin young readers,2012)

• Dubowski, Mark..Titanic: THE DISASTER THAT SHOCKED THE WORLD!(New York,NY: DK readers, 1998)

• Ballard, Robert .Titanic:FINDING THE TITANIC.(New York, NY:Hello Reader! 1993)

• Price, Sean. Titanic:THE KID’S GUIDE TO TITANIC.(North Mankato, Minnesota:Edge Books,2012)

• Adams, Simon. Titanic:Eyewitness Titanic.(New York, NY:DK Eyewitness books, 2009)